THE BOOK OF THE ROSE 



CHAPTEE I 



INTRODUCTION 



It is a common saying that the love of flowers is 

 universal ; and it is not surprising, seeing that the 

 tendency of the age is to subdivide occupations 

 and interests and make men specialists in smaller 

 branches of subjects, that certain flowers have been 

 selected for cultivation by persons who have given 

 all their leisure, or even the whole of their time, to 

 the study of them. As the Eose has been entitled 

 the queen of flowers without serious dispute for 

 nearly twenty-five centuries, special subjects of such 

 a queen may naturally be looked for ; and they may 

 be found among such as style themselves Eosarians, 

 who endeavour to cultivate the Eose in such a 

 manner as to get the finest and most beautiful 

 blooms. 



One would naturally suppose that those who study 

 and pursue this subject might be credited with a 

 special knowledge of it at least, if not with some 

 authority ; but, oddly enough, a certain number of 



B 



